Sky Mobile announces its 5G network will launch in November
Slow and steady – or just late?
Now that all the UK's major network providers have announced their 5G switch-on dates, it's time for the smaller companies to catch up, and one of the first of those is Sky Mobile, which has finally announced its 5G plans.
The switch-on date for Sky Mobile's 5G is November – there's no exact date yet, but we'd expect to find out for certain closer to the month.
- Everything you should know about 5G
- This is what 5G in the UK looks like
- These are the 5G phones we know about
The first two phones on the network are the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and Huawei Mate 20 X 5G – until recently we thought the latter would never launch in the UK, although recently it was confirmed that the handset would be on certain networks.
Sky Mobile's 5G network will roll out in the four capitals (London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast), as well as Leeds and Slough. There's no word on future roll-out plans, but presumably Sky Mobile plans to bring 5G to more locations.
It just so happens that O2 has also announced its 5G network will roll out in October in those exact cities. The reason for this is that Sky Mobile uses O2's network infrastructure, so Sky Mobile is limited to the cities O2's 5G network will be present in. Giffgaff is in the same position, but we've not heard any word on Giffgaff's 5G plans yet.
Many of Sky Mobile's benefits will be available for 5G customers, like storing unused data and flexibility when changing your phone during your contract.
For the most part, though, we don't have a clear idea of how much Sky Mobile's 5G will cost you. The company does provide some pricing, like the Mate 20 X with 1GB data for £42 per month, but since 1GB is such an unrealistically low amount of data to be using per month on 5G, we don't expect many people will go for this contract.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
However, we'll let you know when we find out more about Sky Mobile's 5G prices.
Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.
He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.